The Path To Truth
by purpleblue
Summary: UPDATED This is about Sophia the adopted daughter of Alanna and George. She has no idea who her birth parents are, Alanna & Jon, but there are a few family friends that do and a large group of strangers that have their own secret agenda for Sophia.
1. Default Chapter

Author's note: here is the next part of the ongoing saga. This is the main story, We Think and Sophia are prequel's and it is probably best if you have at least read Sophia. I hope everyone likes.  
  
Disclaimer: the usual, I don't own the characters and setting that is from Tamora Pierce's imagination. But all original characters are mine.  
  
"Name?"  
  
"Kalia Smith," the young woman said putting on a slight northern accent. She was one of those who had enlisted that year, and painfully thin. She had long copper highlighted auburn hair with full curls that cascading down her back and framed her face.  
  
Her eyes were a dark clear blue that shone with intelligence, yet gave none of their secrets away. Her skin was a porcelain colour and flawless. Her face was neither short nor long, with soft features apart from her high cheekbones that were slightly more pronounced. She was very pretty almost inhumanly.  
  
"Age?" Looks like a noble, he thought looking at her hands. A bit too thin though.  
  
"15." The man writing down her details looked up. The girl must be just fifteen if even that. He put his fingers in the small dish of eyebright.  
  
"Birthday?"  
  
"25th January 437" There was no glow, she was telling the truth.  
  
"You can read and write?" The redhead smiled.  
  
"I could read and write by the age of six."  
  
"You'll need to prove it. You never came to this school, so we don't know you."  
  
"Do you have the gift?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Show me, and light this candle if you can." This is easier than I thought. She held up her hand calling up a small indigo fireball, her gift. She looked at the candle, sending a small part of her gift towards it. The candle burst into flames. "Good. Take these," he handed over the forms he had been filling in about her, then pointed to the room opposite, "And go in there."  
  
She smiled sweetly, "Thank-you." She took the papers and moved away from the desk.  
  
Behind the door there was a small classroom. A young woman was sitting at the front of the room reading a book. I suppose she is the one I'm supposed to see, she thought.  
  
"'Scuse me miss," the woman looked up. Kalia walked down the rows of desks to stand in front of her. "The man outside, he said to come in here." The woman smiled.  
  
"Papers?" she asked holding out her hand. She glanced at them. "Kalia. So you want to join up? You have to take a reading and writing test, so we know for sure you can read and write. Sit here." She pointed at a desk before getting a few sheets of paper and something to write with.  
  
The woman was looking over Kalia's papers again. "You seem to have done very well. Take these to the palace gates as soon as you can, before the March moon. That is when training starts. Most trainees have short hair. Your hair will be hard to tend." She passed Kalia a single piece of paper, saying she was a trainee for the Rider's, her name, age, if she can read or write and if she had the gift.  
  
"It's already hard to tend. It's a good reason to cut it. I go to the gates and they take me to the barracks?" Kalia took a lock of her now long, curly, auburn hair.  
  
That was the reason she was now standing at a gate to the palace, waiting for someone to show her to the Rider's barracks. She just hoped nobody recognised her. She now had a fringe, curly ear length hair, that was now auburn and a new name. She was now Kalia Smith, from a small village to the north east of Olorun. She wasn't a noble's daughter anymore, or a student at the Royal University or the Lioness's daughter. She just hoped that Buri would not see her for what she was, her friend's daughter, Sophia of Olau and Pirate's Swoop.  
  
"Four new recruits turned up today."  
  
Buri smiled, "We're filling up quick. What are their names?" Sarge sank down on the chair in the officers' mess.  
  
"Two girls, Mairi and Kalia, can't remember last names. The other two are called Krispin and Toraron."  
  
"Do any of them seem promising?" Even with Sarge sitting, she still had to crane her neck up to look at him.  
  
"Some of them. We'll find out more when training starts." He smiled at her. "We always do. You know how some you can just tell? And then there are the ones that keep you guessing? One of the girls, Kalia I think, she looks like if you blow too hard at her she'll fall over."  
  
"A delicate one?"  
  
"Yes, she's the curly redhead. She looks like she's never been fed properly. She's the skinniest one out of the lot. There is something about her. I get the air that she has more smarts than she lets on." She yawned.  
  
"Will you need to point her out to me tomorrow? If she stays in we can feed her up a bit. I will talk to you tomorrow; I am going to go to bed. Thanks Sarge." She moved lethargically from her seat.  
  
"Goodnight."  
  
"Goodnight."  
  
The noise in the mess hall was almost deafening. Three Rider Groups had ridden in over the past two days; the three groups were all catching up. There was also by now over 35 trainees with 2 days left before training was due to start.  
  
Sophia or Kalia as she now claims to be was sitting down with a small group of trainees eating their breakfasts. They were interested with their new recruits. "So how old are you?" The speaker was about 18-19, tall, had dark hair and dancing green eyes and spoke with a strong northern accent. This may be a problem she thought. He may be able to see through her accent.  
  
"How old do you think I am?"  
  
"Well you have to be at least 15 to enter so 15 plus."  
  
"When I was enlisting the man didn't believe I was as old as I said I was," she smiled.  
  
He gave her his most dazzling smile, "And what did you say to him?"  
  
"My birthday."  
  
"And when is that?"  
  
"Next year."  
  
Someone groaned, and said to the rest of the table, "Does he ever stop?" The rest of the table continued their conversation about the young man. "No."  
  
"What date?"  
  
"25th."  
  
"And?"  
  
"January."  
  
"Are you going to share the year?"  
  
"437. Can you work it out now?"  
  
"You're fifteen!" he shouted. People turned and looked at him. Sophia burst out laughing along with everybody else at their long table. "I just thought you looked young."  
  
"That's because I am young!"  
  
"Ignore Lachlan. Ianthe," she held out her hand to shake.  
  
"Kalia."  
  
Ianthe started to introduce everyone, "Adrian, Lavinia, Keal, Tenness, Kience, Kathryn, Mairi, Krispin and Toraron."  
  
"Hi." She smiled shyly, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.  
  
"Have you had a chance to look around yet?" Ianthe quizzed. She seemed to be the one in charge of their group. She looked like the typical blond, blue eyed pretty girl. The other girls were more ordinary.  
  
"Not yet."  
  
"Well we have until training starts to do what we want. But if you're not very good at riding you should probably practise."  
  
"I can ride. I'll have a look around and try not to get lost or go down to the city. I grew up in a very boring village."  
  
"We'll show you around." Lachlan piped in.  
  
"Oh, so you've recovered from the little shock," Ianthe remarked. He reddened slightly.  
  
Sophia smiled, "Thanks."  
  
"So is that why you enlisted? For some action?" Adrian asked. He was the oldest at the table. A southerner by the looks of his skin and his accent, brown haired and brown eyed.  
  
"Partly, I wanted to get away from where I was living. I left as soon as I could." She fingered lightly the side of her face, a haunted look occupying her eyes. It did not go completely unnoticed by the others.  
  
"Your parents?"  
  
"I wasn't living with my parents. I'm adopted and we don't get on, my mother is an evil bitch. I live mainly with my grandparents. I'm meant to be at my parents' home at the moment but I came here instead."  
  
"You're a runaway?" Someone, she wasn't sure who asked.  
  
"No, I wouldn't call it that. You would need to understand the family, it's very complicated."  
"Sorry."  
  
"It's ok. So why is everybody else here?"  
  
"Are you a noble?" Ianthe asked. Kalia laughed.  
  
"I don't think I have a drop of noble blood in me. My stepfather was born in the lower city here and I was found in a clearing in the Royal Forest. So why is everyone else here?" she asked, the subject closed.  
  
"Buri," her bleary eyes looked up from her breakfast to be greeted by Sarge. She was not a morning person. "The girl I was telling you about. She's sitting at the far table with the other newbies. Sitting furthest away on the right." Sarge sat down beside her while she glanced at the girl.  
  
"I see what you mean. Her clothes look very baggy, her own clothes look well enough." Sarge understood what she was saying, she should be well enough fed if they're her own clothes or perhaps not if she stole them. "She looks like a doll. But looks can always be deceiving," she told him.  
  
"Is this Buri the Wise rearing her ugly head again?"  
  
"Indeed it is." She laughed. "Makes a change." She looked at the girl, Kalia again. "She reminds me of someone. I just can't think who."  
  
"You'll remember eventually."  
  
Please review, comments are greatly appreciated and thanks for reading. 


	2. chapter 2

"Darlings, we start training in 5 minutes. So finish up and meet out at the stables ready to start in 5 minutes!" Sarge bellowed. The first thing he made them do was run laps round one of the paddocks, to see how fit they all were.  
  
They were on their tenth lap of the half-acre field. "Kalia, how can you be doing this and be barely breaking a sweat?" Kathryn asked somewhat breathless. The two of them were in the lead.  
  
"I like running. I try and go running as much as I can." Lachlan pulled up beside them. He had dark blond hair and an accent they all loved and tried to understand. He was from the northern mountains and when he did anything more than walk while talking he could be slightly hard to understand, but it was a pleasant burgh.  
  
"But Kalia this is godlike," he told her.  
  
"Does that mean I look like one to?"  
  
"Yeah the Graveyard Hag," he told her. Kathryn tried to laugh then stopped due to the fact that she needed to breathe. When they got to Sarge at the end of the lap. He told them they could stop, but carry on walking round. Buri was standing next to Sarge.  
  
"She looks like she's only done two laps." She told him.  
  
"But she's done ten. She set the speed and it was too fast for most of them. She overlapped a lot with only about two managing to keep up."  
  
"She could have got that thin from exercise."  
  
"She might have," he replied doubtfully. "Have you remembered her yet?"  
  
"No, I've been trying to remember all week." He laughed at her.  
  
"When are we expecting Alanna?" He asked changing the subject.  
  
"In about two weeks. Sophia has finished school till August, but she's coming early to spend some time with her and then have Sophia travel down with us."  
  
"I haven't seen Sophia in a long time. She must be 14 now is it?"  
  
"No, she's 15 now." Buri corrected.  
  
"I had heard that she doesn't go home anymore," Sarge stated.  
  
"She doesn't. This is the first time in a few years that she has actually agreed to go home. It has taken Eleni over two years to persuade her to visit."  
  
"It must have been some fight, Sophia was only twelve," he said curiously. "Alanna has never said what happened and she doesn't like talking about it. She is really excited that Sophia is coming home though." She smiled before turning and shouting to the people running past, "If you've ran 10 then walk the next one! Then go into the mess and get some water! Drink it slowly! We all meet in there!"  
  
"KYLE! You haven't done ten yet. Go back." The boy sighed, jogging back into the circle.  
  
Two weeks later....  
  
"You're getting your mounts today. You've got ten minutes to be at the last paddock," Buri shouted to the trainees, there were only 23 of them now.  
  
"We've survived the two weeks now, only another year to go and we're in." Sophia laughed. Their group was now down to 8: Kalia, Ianthe, Lachlan, Adrian, Tenness, Kathryn, Krispin and Toraron. They rose from the long benches to put away what remained of breakfast.  
  
"We should go, better to be early than late." Toraron said. There were many sighs, but they all started filing out, Talking as they went.  
  
"I heard the Lioness and Queen are going to be training with us from now on."  
  
"Well we're going to Pirate's Swoop for the summer camp."  
  
"The Rider's always go there now."  
  
"I wonder what she's like."  
  
"Like a normal person."  
  
"I heard she had a big temper." Sophia started laughing. They all looked at her.  
  
"A big temper," she said. "We'll get to see it soon enough." They all looked at her curiously. She moved to the front of their group, leading the way to the last paddock.  
  
Picking ponies took a long time. Ianthe and Kalia had chosen their ponies and were just waiting for them to be checked, along with everybody else some others.  
  
"You're shaking again," Ianthe observed, looking pointedly in the opposite direction.  
  
"I know," she countered crossing her arms.  
  
"You ever going to say why?" It was an old question between the two of them. Sophia never told her why, but Ianthe kept asking hoping that her friend would tell her the truth.  
  
Sophia opened her mouth to tell her friend why, when she heard the instructor coming to check on their mounts. She clamped her mouth shut. There was one problem the instructor happened to be Alanna, in other words, her mother.  
  
Kalia shrunk back. It would be difficult to see her from where Alanna was. She went to Ianthe first. "What's your name?"  
  
"Ianthe, mam." Alanna checked the ponies deciding they were suitable for the blond girl. She smiled, walking over to Kalia.  
  
"What's your-" the smile disappeared. "Sophia. I can tell who you are. So this is where you ended up. I can recognise your face anywhere. What have you done to your hair?" Alanna fingered the girl's hair, before grabbed her wrist. "You've got thinner. I thought we had sorted that out." Sophia pulled out of her grasp.  
  
"I believe I have sorted it out, not we. Red hair doth suit me, does it not?" Sophia stopped using the accent she had adopted and a very polite and noble voice came forward, she fingered a lock of hair. She looked her mother in the eye speaking sarcastically, "Am I not like you Mother? One was basing one's hair on the colour of yours." She narrowed her eyes at her mother, trying to provoke her.  
  
She was obviously educated well. Ianthe frowned thinking, I thought she came from a village north of Olau.  
  
"Thankfully you will never be like me, one is enough. It does not look like you have sorted it out and now is not a good time to be pert." Alanna took a calming breath. "What name did you make up?"  
  
"Kalia Smith," she said putting on an air of arrogance, while looking into the forest to her side.  
  
"Kalia? Bending of the truth I suppose? Do you have any idea how worried we were?" The calming breath was not lasting.  
  
The young girl's head whipped round and her voice was stabbing "If you were so worried then why are you here training?" Alanna could bring Sophia's temper come out in a moment; it was like that now between them. Sophia when around others was usually calm, collected, smiling, charismatic almost anything but hotheaded and temperamental, perhaps because nothing had happened to get her angry.  
  
"The world does not revolve around your whims for attention. I am here because I am meant to be here and also so I can stop worrying about you. Although your letter claimed you were fine, it might not have been true you may not have even written it. No one had felt anything wrong with you. A green eyed friend of ours also said you were fine, so at least we knew nothing drastic had happened. She also said that I would see you well soon and that looking for you would not help. Just because I knew you were fine, that does not stop me from worrying." Alanna stopped, taking another calming breath. "I cannot deal with this. I have to go talk to Buri and Thayet. I will speak to you in a minute, I'm sure I'm not be the only one." Alanna was absolutely seething. She stomped away in search of Buri and Thayet elsewhere on the field, muttering while she went, "I need a drink."  
  
"Kalia what was that about?" Sophia took a deep breath, controlling her emotions.  
  
"That was my mother," she told her softly, then remembering the truth, "Adoptive."  
  
"What did she mean about your name?" Ianthe smiled ironically in realisation. "Kalia isn't your real name is it? You lied to us. You lied to me."  
  
"My real name is Sophia. I do get called Kalia though; the names mean the same thing. The past couple of years I have been studying at the university and just left. I never said I was coming here. Only one person knew I had ran away. I had to lie, other wise I wouldn't be allowed to be here," she told her friend in earnest.  
  
"What do you normally look like?" she asked sounding hurt.  
  
"I had long, straighter, black hair. I dyed it, curled it and then cut it. I don't normally have a fringe but obviously I do now."  
  
"How long were you at the university?" She had never met anyone who had been to the university before. Curiosity was slightly overtaking the sting of betrayal that she had felt.  
  
"Six years." That was the end of their conversation. A second later Sophia got her orders.  
  
"SOPHIA! GET HERE RIGHT NOW!" Sarge has obviously found out she thought. This is not going be pretty.  
  
"Perhaps I will see you later, Ianthe."  
  
"Maybe." Her eyes were on Sophia's back until a horse moved in the way.  
  
Please, please, please review. I need comments! A big thanks to Nala and her messages. 


	3. chapter 3

Trust me to have gone to the other end of the field, she thought. She stopped to let her ponies catch up with her. She was planning on hiding behind them slightly. Sarge was scary as was Buri when she rose to the occasion.  
  
They were all waiting for her: Thayet, Buri, Sarge and Alanna. None of them appeared happy.  
  
"Sophia, Do you realise how much trouble you are in?" Alanna hissed when she came to stand infront of them.  
  
"Oh, so I lied about my name, you lied about everything and from what I remember and have heard did not get in any trouble, is that not right? One thought recently came to me when I was thinking about all of this. Here is my big thought, why is it," she paused and put her finger to her mouth in a mock thinking pose. "What was the word you used? Inappropriate, that was the word. Why is it inappropriate for your adoptive daughter, not even your own daughter, to be in the Rider's, yet you found it perfectly acceptable for you to be a knight? Perhaps acceptable is not the right word, but you said you would not let me be a Rider, no matter what. Imagine what people would say about that, the Lioness, who is very well known about her unquestionable belief that women should be in the military, the King's Champion, one of the people who send sons and daughters to places where they may die, yet she won't allow her children, no, no, no, one of her children to be in the military, the one who is not of her own blood, yet it is fair for others to send their children to training. What a good example you are." She quirked her eyebrow, her hand on her hip, looking smug, as if to say beat that. They were back into their old unwavering game of heckling.  
  
Alanna smiled insincerely, "I wouldn't let you enlist in anything because I know you. You probably could cope if you had another stone of flesh on you, physically anyway. Mentally, you would not be able to hack it. You forget I know you,"  
  
"No, you haven't known me since I was sent away. I was eight then, was I not? It is so hard to remember, being so young and all. Actually, perhaps you would not know since you were never at home."  
  
"Perhaps, but I was just leading a soldier's life, I wasn't thinking of a family at ten. Have you thought about that?" Sophia eyes turned hard and narrowed at her mother. "When you were able to see me it wasn't always at home, you would complain and say you would rather stay at home or you would have to be dragged to see me."  
  
"That is because you bring a whole new meaning to bitch. Who would want to go see one of them? Thank the Gods you are not my real mother," Sophia said raising her voice.  
  
"This is enough. Trainee go and stable your ponies and wait in the mess," Thayet ordered. Sophia glared one more time at her mother, sharply turning to go to the stables. She visibly stomped away as ponies parted automatically as her ponies trailed behind.  
  
"Alanna are you alright?" Thayet asked, worried about her friend. If one of her children had said that, she'd be very upset.  
  
"I'm fine. At least she's been found." Alanna looked away, trying to hold back the tears.  
  
"Come on, we'll go back up to the palace. Then we'll come back down and talk to her after Buri and Sarge have finished." Thayet put her arm round her shoulder guiding her towards the palace.  
  
"I don't know why I am upset. She says things like that to me all the time when we see each other."  
  
"She just wants to rebel," Thayet replied unsure of what to say.  
  
"And what a rebellion it is."  
  
Buri and Sarge waited for them to be out of earshot. "I guess Sophia is who she reminds you of. She's very skinny now."  
  
"Yes, Alanna and George have been worried about her for a while now. Here we were thinking that Kalia was underfed because her family were going hungry. What are we going to do with her?"  
  
"What will Alanna let us do?" he asked.  
  
"She's a good recruit," she reasoned.  
  
"She did lie."  
  
"By saying her last name was Smith. She already gets called Kalia. I've heard her being called that. She didn't lie that much. We get worse lies and you know it."  
  
"Yes, I know. They get kicked out," he pointed out.  
  
"She's the best we have this year. She's been trained since she could walk. She also has a very powerful, university trained gift."  
  
"Buri I can tell what you're doing. You are trying to convince me and I think yourself to let her stay. Alanna wouldn't like it if we said she could stay."  
  
"Let Sophia have the choice, she's old enough. Find the reasons for staying in. It might just have been to piss Alanna off or to get attention."  
  
"There is only one way to find out. She should have finished in the stables by now." The two of them headed for the mess. "Do you realise how clever she has been? She has backed Alanna into a corner so that she has to be allowed to stay; politically we will probably have to let her stay. She hasn't lied enough to be dismissed and I think she knows exactly how much of a storm this will cause if she isn't allowed to stay." Buri told him.  
  
"She is fifteen, do you really think she realises what this would cause?"  
  
"Oh, she has a perfect understanding of the politics at court; she hasn't exactly been sheltered from them. I've been thinking about this and I don't think it will matter what Alanna wants. If no one else realises the politics of this, Sophia will blatantly point it out."  
  
"To get what she wants?" Sarge found it hard to believe that she would do that.  
  
"She's a noble; most things are politics with them. She is strong willed young woman and Alanna's daughter; she has to use politics to get what she wants. Politics will always be used in her case, for her or against her; it's the way she has been raised."  
  
"And it's going to come back and bite Alanna in the ass." Buri laughed at his comment.  
  
"We need to sort out her reasons, but I am not going to find grounds everywhere I look for her to leave.  
  
The recruits were all watching their instructors and Kalia walk away.  
  
"Ianthe? What was that all about?" Lachlan asked directing his two ponies to the young woman.  
  
"It's Kalia, she isn't Kalia. Her name's Sophia and she's the Lioness's daughter," the blond woman told him distantly.  
  
"Kalia? Kalia is Sophia of Olau and Pirate's Swoop?" Lachlan couldn't believe it.  
  
"You knew the Lioness had a daughter that age?" Ianthe turned and looked him in the eye.  
  
"Yes, I thought lots of people did. You didn't?"  
  
"No, all I knew about her family was that she had three children with her husband and that she was adopted by a knight from Olau. How come I didn't know about her?"  
  
"Well, the Lioness found Sophia when she was a few days old. I think it was only about a week after she left Corus when she was knighted. Then when the Lioness went west baby Sophia stayed in Tortall with her Grace, the Duchess of Naxen. Sophia isn't mentioned in any of the tales."  
  
"Oh. I think Kalia ran away, from the reaction she got."  
  
Sophia was sitting at a table by herself; other rider groups were sitting about talking and laughing. She hadn't been sitting long when Sarge and Buri entered.  
  
"Sophia stay sat," Buri ordered. "Sophia you lied. I want to know why and if you wish to stay?"  
  
"Yes, I do," she pleaded.  
  
"Why?" Sarge asked.  
  
"To serve my country. I didn't want to stay at the university anymore. I've learnt enough to be classed as a mage. I didn't want that. I was taught how to fight, more than just defending myself, I want to be useful. Alanna wanted me to be a mage. I like learning how to use a sword and other weapons; hand-to-hand; and I want to be out there doing something."  
  
"Then become a knight," he told her.  
  
"A knight! People work hard to become a knight I understand that. But they are different." She paused to think for a moment. "I would have been a female knight, the first in over a decade; do you really think I would have been allowed to do much? The army is political; conservatives have been put in positions, to keep the whole lot of them happy. I wouldn't be any where near the fighting, I would get orders and they would be very far away from any kind of fighting or used for politics again. In the Rider's there wouldn't be an excuse, I would just be another Rider, one among many and I would actually be of some use. There are lots of women in the Rider's. I do not want to be the only woman in a group of knights. The training is very different. The real reason is that there are different attitudes in each camp. There is a better stance toward women in the military here. Alanna's shadow would always have been on me. Here, I have more of a chance to be me, and she would have less of a say about what I do. Lots of knights don't like mother so they wouldn't like me either. In the Rider's I am part of a group and not singled out."  
  
Buri frowned in thought. Looking every so often at Sarge. Finally after some minutes Buri spoke, "If you get through training and your trial year you can stay. You need to sort yourself out. Sophia, I've known you since you were a toddler and you aren't meant to be this thin. I think I will talk to you more about that later. You will be disciplined though; any wrong step and you're out."  
  
"Thank you, and I'm fine." She said almost snapping.  
  
"Are you sure? You don't look it. We will be making sure you are. Your mother is going to skin us. Go see her. We know you can ride and take care of a horse. Be back by noon."  
  
"Sometimes you have to get worse to get better. Where is she?"  
  
"Try the suite or Thayet's." Sophia stood slowly and walked slowly to the door. "Oh, and Sophia, If you don't speak to her that is your wrong step."  
  
Timidly Sophia opened the doors to the family suite. Her mother if she was in here wouldn't have calmed down yet, she herself was still angry. There was no one in the main room. She moved to the door on the left off the room into the second public room. Maude, their nurse was there, looking after her little brothers and sister.  
  
"Were you looking for someone?" Maude asked then a look of dawning crossed her face. "Sophia! Where in Gods' name have you been?"  
  
"In the palace. So Alanna isn't here?" Her brothers and sister didn't notice her; they were too engrossed in their game.  
  
"No, your mother is not here but George is. Go speak to him; he's in his study. I'm glad you're okay." Sophia suddenly ran over to Maude, giving her a quick hug.  
  
"Thanks Maude. I've missed you."  
  
"You too pet." Sophia smiled grimly. "You're too thin again." Maude whispered in her ear. Sophia pulled out of the embrace frowning. Maude met her eyes. She turned and went to the door at the back of the room that led to the internal corridor. George's study was the 4th door on the right. She stopped, her hand on the doorknob, ready to push it open.  
  
"Sophia, are you planning to come in!" he shouted through the door. She shook her head in amusement, but quickly steeled herself as she walked into the study.  
  
"Da," she said very interested in her feet. My boots need cleaned she thought. She took a step back of the rug. He gave her a questionable look. "Boots are dirty." He rose from his chair moving to lean against his desk infront of her.  
  
"So Sophia where've you been? We knew you weren't dead. His Majesty said you weren't. Every time we scried for you all we managed to get was fog. So all that money that went to your school at least paid off. Your friends, superb liars by the way, teenagers! Also, good job with the hair; it completely changes your appearance. Half your things were missing so that at least suggested you left willingly, or seemingly willingly. Then finally one of your friends said you ran off, with all the money you had. So Soph where you been?" He said sarcastically.  
  
"She told you?" the young girl demanded. He nodded crossing his arms and fingering his chin. "Who else was she with? Were any of my other friends there?"  
  
"No, should it matter?" he asked eying her curiously.  
  
"Not really, but she was the only one who knew and my friends would not have been happy that the two of us were lying, I don't want her taking the blame when I'm not there to take it as well."  
  
"Ok, so back to the question of where you were?"  
  
"Enlisting."  
  
"Really and what did you enlist into?"  
  
"The Rider's."  
  
"You're serious and still in?"  
  
"Just. Buri wasn't happy."  
  
"How much did you lie?"  
  
"Just my name. Kalia Smith. You know people in the tribe call me Kalia and Smith, well; there are a lot of them about, so you never know I may have some Smith in me. I also said I was from somewhere near Olau."  
  
"Did they eventually recognise you?"  
  
"Mama did. I thought she might have been here." She looked around her as though she might have been hiding behind the door. "Thayet took her somewhere." She glanced once again around the warmly furnished room.  
  
"Then we'll go find her." He walked forward, putting a tight grip on her shoulder leading her out the door.  
  
"You know I can walk without you steering me?" she told him turning her head.  
  
"I know. I just want to make sure." He pushed her gently forward.  
  
"Alanna sit down and I'll get you a drink." The two women were in the private royal rooms. "I'll be a minute. I'll raid the good stuff." Thayet gave her a concerned smile. She went into the room that connected to Jon's study. She knocked on the connecting door and found him staring at the wall.  
  
He was on his own, looking haggard. His daughter had been missing for about 3 weeks. She smiled. "Sophia's alright. We found her." He let out a long sigh of relief. He stood.  
  
"Where was she?"  
  
"At the Rider's Barracks. She's one of the new recruits."  
  
"What!"  
  
"She's quite good apparently, the best that enlisted this year, surprising for her size. She also has a new haircut; Short, curly red hair. As you can expect Alanna and Sophia had an argument." Thayet moved towards her husband and leant against his desk. Speaking softly, "Sophia told her that she was glad Alanna was not her real mother. I came to get Alanna a drink; she's in our lounge. Go see her."  
  
"Thayet-"  
  
"It's fine. She is our friend and Sophia's mother. Nothing is going to change that. Take her a drink; she could do with one, so could you." He stood and brushed his lips gently over hers.  
  
"Thank you for everything." He told her. She kissed him.  
  
"And thank you for everything. Now go see Alanna. Sophia will be sent up here soon."  
  
"Are we even yet?" he asked. She walked over to the decanter, and poured three drinks. She looked up smiling.  
  
"No. I'm still winning." She moved to the door holding two glasses of whisky.  
  
"You always are." He took the glasses walking into the other room. 


	4. 4

"Jon." Alanna smiled as he handed her the glass. "Did Thayet tell you where we found her?"  
  
"Who would have thought she was there." He sat down opposite her.  
  
"She isn't looking very good again." She downed the contents of the glass. He took a sip of the fiery liquid.  
  
"How bad this time?" The worry was written all across his face.  
  
"Not as bad as a last year. When I saw her a few months ago she looked like she was getting better, not the weight she should be but she was eating enough. She's gone through another bad patch and I didn't even know! I shouldn't have sent her back to school. Eleni wanted her to stay with her, where she could keep a better eye on her, but Phia didn't want to stay there. She said she was fine and to stop fussing and that she wanted to be back at school and see her friends again. So I let her go and she runs off and joins the Rider's! Looking about four stone at 5'5."  
  
"I should have checked on her more. She would come and see me, but only for a few minutes. She knew I was meant to be checking on her, so she would see me on her terms. She would come up Balor's Needle and see me there, so she always wore a cloak and whenever I saw her she would wear a long sleeve dress, flared sleeves as well. I should have noticed," he said looking deep into his glass.  
  
"She's safe anyway, that is the main thing. You'll let me stay with her until August at least?" Jonathan opened his mouth to answer, when there was a knock and a footman entered, Sophia and George behind.  
  
"Sophia!" He leapt off his seat and hugged the young girl. As the footman left. "It's good to see you safe."  
  
"Uncle Jon. How have you been?" he let go of her as George went to his wife.  
  
"I was fairly worried about you. How are you?" He asked calmly sitting back down.  
  
"I am fine, a bit tired. I think I've been doing too much. You know all that running about; I'm not used to it. I've been learning a lot. The one lesson I particularly liked was the lesson about how to sow my own cuts with nothing to numb the pain."  
  
"I must agree. Using your gift is the most boring way to help heal cuts." She laughed. Out of all her parents' friends, she liked the King the most. He was always nice to her, giving her sweets whenever her mother was not looking and he gave her the best presents for her birthday and he always gave them to her in person. She always had the best conversations with him, he knew so much.  
  
"It is Uncle Jon, it is. Although using your gift does make the cut look pretty."  
  
"It does. Sit down; we all want to hear what you have to say." He didn't say it as though she was in trouble. It sounded like he just wanted to hear what she bought him on a shopping trip.  
  
She sat down close to Jonathan and far from her mother.  
  
"Mama, I'm sorry for what I said, but not what I did. I didn't mean to worry everyone." Alanna raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Ok, maybe I did slightly, but it wasn't the main reason. I needed to get away and do my own thing. At the university I'm known as the girl whose uncle raised the dead! I needed to do something for myself. I want to do something exciting with my life. I am 15 years old and the only way my life was going was in the ground. Look at me!" she pulled her sleeve back to show her arm. "Do you really think I would be alive by the time I was twenty? I was killing myself and I knew it, but I didn't care. I took control and did what I wanted. I couldn't tell anyone that I was joining. I knew you wouldn't let me enlist so I used a different name. With me joining under a different name, I would be known for what I achieved, and not because I was your daughter. There wouldn't be any expectations about me. I would be useful. There are enough mages, another sword will always help, but I'm also trained in my gift. I want some excitement in my life." She looked at her hands as they played with a ring she's had for as long as she remembered. Her mother had always said that it was with her when she was found.  
  
All three adults in the room followed her gaze to the ring she was playing with. It was silver, with two very plain birds next to a flower. The two birds were very simple and connected to a plain flower: the flower was made of seven small-engraved circles arranged with one in the centre, each line that was engraved had coloured black. She didn't know where it had come from, perhaps from her real mother. However, Alanna had always insisted that it was meant for Sophia for as long as she could remember. Yet the truth was that the ring had belonged to her paternal grandmother when she had been a teenager and she had never taken it off. She did not know this though, the others in the room did.  
  
When the Queen died many of her belongings had been left to Sophia, her only granddaughter and grandchild at the time. Sophia had never realised that the items her Grandma 'Leni had given her had belonged to the deceased Queen. The young lady spent a lot of time at Olau, more than her brothers and sister, Thom was almost eight and the twins were almost five. Their grandmother treated her as though she was one of her own, she even knew her better than her mother and they actually got along.  
  
"You should have known that I would leave eventually. If I were you, I would have expected this to happen years ago. I have been planning this particular attempt for well over a year."  
  
"You've been planning this for over a year?" Alanna asked shocked.  
  
"I hate being at the university. There is not a chance that I am going back there. If you make me go back you will never see me ever again. Any of you in this room or anybody you know," she told them stubbornly and dangerously. She had set her jaw and her eyes told everyone that she was perfectly serious and would carry out her threat.  
  
"We'll talk about all this later," she told the girl irritably.  
  
"No, we do not need to. I am not going back there, I am going to complete my training and have a career of some sorts." The girl was very stubborn.  
  
"You're staying in?" Sophia nodded.  
  
"So long as nothing else happens, I am still in. Speaking of which I have to go."  
  
"You're not out?" The two women seemed to forget that there were others in the room.  
  
"Nice to see you believe in me Mum. I want to do this, let me do it. Think of it this way, I am only leaving if I get kicked out and I'll be at home anyway, so if I'm training I won't be moping around. Think how difficult I am when I am moping. What is the problem with me being a Rider? It is just as dangerous as being a knight. If I wanted to be a knight would you let me? Think of it this way, every single person in this room would have a political headache if you prohibited the Lioness and Champion's daughter from joining the Riders."  
  
Alanna thought for a moment. Her eyes went to the table at the side of the chair, on the ball of fruit. Sophia could tell by her eyes, she would not have let her become a knight either. Her mother knew she was right, "Have an apple before you leave. It's hard work." She scrutinized her mother, seeing the determined look on her face. She held out a hand for the apple that George handed her. She took a bite as her mother carried on. "If I find that you are not looking after yourself then I will haul you out of there before you have the chance to say pony. Understand?" She swallowed her mouthful of apple.  
  
"Fine." She looked at Jonathan. "Your Majesty may I go now?"  
  
"Ask your mother." She turned to her mother.  
  
"When you finish that." Sophia quickly ate the rest of the apple.  
  
"Bye," Sophia smiled and fled out the door.  
  
"Very good lie. I found it quite hard to see." George remarked quietly when she had gone.  
  
"She was lying?" Alanna asked aghast.  
  
"Yeah, the reasons she had to be a Rider were all very good, but they weren't hers. She even tried to hide she was lying. It should've worked and would've if she hadn't let it flicker, by then I knew she was using an illusion."  
  
"I never saw an illusion," Jon told him slightly hurt.  
  
"I didn't see it either, at first."  
  
"There are times when you can't tell she is lying!" Alanna cried out.  
  
"No, at least she learnt something. I don't think this is a good thing though."  
  
"George how did you find her?" Jon asked.  
  
"She came looking for 'Lanna."  
  
"I didn't realise she was that thin. It's a relief to see her. Knowing that she's alive and safe is different than seeing it. I better go and talk to Thayet." He stood and left, leaving George and Alanna alone.  
  
The slight girl hurried out of the Royal apartments, her light footsteps giving out an ever increasing beat on the stone floor. By the time she got to the nearest stairs that led outside she was almost running. Her feet flew down the stairs two at a time, her shoe leather barely touching the stone and her pulse racing. Sophia did not notice that she had entered the rose garden, the buds on the bushes waiting for the bite of winter to leave the city of Corus. Neither did she see a woman sitting on the curved bench in the centre.  
  
The girl's stomach protested at the food she had been forced to eat, blatantly punishing its owner, as it rid itself of its contents onto the dark earth. Moving her hands from her thighs she struggled to lean against the wall. Her body protesting every inch of the way as it quivered and stumbled, silent tears streaming down her grey cheeks.  
  
"What are we going to do with you little one?" the dark haired goddess asked patiently. The girl lifted her protesting head from the wall as her eyes were forced to look in the direction of the speaker. The goddess went to the girl, her eyes and heart filled with sympathy at what she was going through. Gently, her cool hand touched the youth's forehead, tenderly detaching the sticky hair from Sophia's sweaty brow.  
  
"Mother-"the young girl croaked. The goddess gathered her in her arms knowing that all that the girl wanted was for someone who loved her to be there with her.  
  
"It's alright, I'm here," she reassured as the girl sobbed into the dark blue velvet of the ageless woman's cloak. She looked down at the young woman who she had known before birth, who in a certain respect was her daughter, far more than any other mortal and realised that she loved her as though she was one of her daughters. She kissed the top of Sophia's hair, pulling her tighter to her chest. "This won't last much longer and then this will be it. I've missed you kiddo and that is why we are going to sit down and have a chat, then we'll fix you up."  
  
She pulled out of the embrace, wiping away her tears, "Do I look a real mess?"  
  
"No, you look a state, but that is to be expected. Now, come on and sit down and I'll fix your hair and we can wait for your eyes to get back to normal." The green eyed goddess put her arm around Sophia's shoulders leading her to the stone bench.  
  
"Be truthful with me Sophia, are you sure this is what you want with your life?" The delicate looking girl frowned in thought.  
  
"Why did you leave me?" she breathed. The goddess seized the girl's chin forcing her to look her in the eye.  
  
"I never left you. I had to let you walk your own path, I could not interfere then. Sophia you are a very special girl and you have gone through some life changing years. That has and will change who you are and I could not be involved in that. That was the rule and I could not break it, no matter how much I wanted to. I did Sophia, I wanted to be there for you, to help you even to get you away, but my hands were tied. I could not change things. Decide what you want to do and I will talk to your mother for you. Do what is best for you not anyone else."  
  
"I want to stay with the Riders."  
  
"Very well, let's get you presentable." She did not argue. What would be the point? The girl had made up her mind and there was no changing it unless there was some doubt. Yet, she sensed no doubt.  
  
Sophia walked into the mess to find the rest of the recruits eating lunch. Buri saw her enter the room. She had been looking out for her. "Sophia, did you speak to your mother?" she said after leaving the top table.  
  
"Yes, I spoke to her and Da and Uncle Jon."  
  
"Good. I will check anyway. It's lunchtime; time to get you something to eat." She put her arm around the girl's shoulders, leading her to the food servers. "You know we're going to have to treat you worse to show no special treatment. You also know the area that we're going to better than the back of your hand."  
  
"So I have to do everything perfect?"  
  
"Glad to see you understand." They were now standing infront of the servers.  
  
"Commander."  
  
"Hi, Ellen. Can you give her a bit extra please?"  
  
"Why are you getting me to have extra? That's special treatment!" she accused.  
  
"No, it's not. You need to have enough energy to move. Plus aren't you hungry?"  
  
"Not really. Mother made me eat something before I left." Buri handed her the tray.  
  
"Well, go sit down. Everyone else will be wondering where you went and who you are." Sophia eyed the tray suspiciously, joining her friends at their table.  
  
"Hi," she said meekly sitting down at the end of the table.  
  
"Is it true what Ianthe said?" Lachlan asked. Everybody else just stared.  
  
"My name's Sophia or you can still call me Kalia. My friends call me that." Her friends in the Bazhir do, not anywhere else she reasoned.  
  
"I didn't know the Lioness had a daughter your age."  
  
"You didn't? I am the scandal after all. She's raised me since I was a day old. She found me after she got her knighthood."  
  
"Did you go to the roof?"  
  
"No, I stayed in Tortall. It isn't the best idea to take a baby into a war zone, a very vocal baby and one who got bored easily," she explained.  
  
"But you do know the stories well?"  
  
"This means you want me to tell you them doesn't it?" They all nodded their heads enthusiastically.  
  
"If I tell you them, then this is the only time. Okay?" she asked. They all nodded once more as she began to tell the embellished tales of her mother's youth.  
  
Please, review! Please! I posted this first on my website, I don't spend as much time on it as I should but it usually has things up first. So visit, 


	5. chapter 5

So everyone here is the next chapter. I did have another version that some may have read, but I scrapped that and edited what I had. That was the reason why this took me so long to get the next part out.  
  
Someone asked about my website, which is now closed. I got bored with the upkeep and I wasn't really getting any feedback.

"You know what his Grace is like," Alanna replied. "Mhari usually deals with those things."  
  
Jonathan laughed, "You still call him his Grace, even when he isn't here. Are you still scared of him?" He teased. George and Thayet both smiled as Alanna glared at the laughing king. She brought her hand up to her nose and scrunched up her eyes, sneezing four times. Jonathan suddenly stopped laughing as the two of them looked sharply around the room.  
  
"What is it?" George asked moving across the sofa closer to his wife.  
  
"I think that I am the problem," the Goddess said as she stepped from the corner.  
  
"Mother?" Alanna asked.  
  
"I will the get to the point straight away. Sophia is to stay with the Riders so long as she wants to," The Goddess said sharply looking at all the room's occupants. She smiled, "I think that is all that needs to be said pertaining to this topic." She looked at them all, daring them to disagree. The tall ageless woman nodded her head in goodbye, "Blessed be."  
  
"And if she is not good enough to stay?" Alanna asked. She was the least afraid of the goddess out of those in the room. The green eyed deity laughed. It was a laugh that no mortal could utter.  
  
"You have never liked being told what to do," the goddess gave a dazzling smile. "And you have never needed to be told before that your daughter was not like all the other little girls in the world. Do I need to remind you further of that fact?" she asked pointedly.  
  
Hundreds of images flashed through Alanna's mind, each as clear as the last. Sophia's first steps at ten months, her first signs of the gift as small globes of light floated in front of the young toddler back in a Bazhir tent, the first words that she spoke in the same tent only a few months older. A game of chess that the two of them played when she was five and Alanna had to start trying to win, conversations with the girl's tutors about her grasp of languages and numbers. Memories of watching from the doorway as the girl fluently held mature conversations in five languages, the mimicking actions of a little six year old girl as she followed her mother in training rooms. Accounts of watching from a distance as she had her own following of cats and Faithful, he had always said she was different, that she was special.  
  
"Alanna, you know as well as I do that she is very capable of doing this. She does not need extra complications. The last couple of years have been hard enough and this one will not be as happy as she expects. She is beginning to grasp that in the back of her mind."  
  
"Mother, would you mind if I asked you a question?" Jonathan interrupted.  
  
"Of course not, my son," she told him focusing her intense gaze upon him.  
  
He shifted nervously to the front of the armchair, sitting up straighter. He was worried about his daughter. "How is it that this year is going to be bad for her? Is she going to get hurt?"  
  
"She will survive. Decisions have consequences, some planned some not. Leaving the University was the biggest one she will most likely make in her life. Do not begrudge her because she did not aspire to what you wanted, after all did you become what your father wanted you to be Lady Knight?"  
  
At the riding paddock.  
  
"Now that you are all used to the saddle, we're going to take them off. 'Cause guess what? We're to ride bareback. There may not always be time to saddle the ponies. Dismount and put your saddles on the fence," Sarge bellowed at the group after they and their ponies had warmed up by doing laps around the small field.  
  
Sophia was with her now usual group of friends, Lachlan, Teness (Tess), Kathryn (Katie), Ianthe ('Anthe), Adrian, Krispin and Toraron. Sophia and Lachlan sprang lightly from their saddles while the others were more wary, most especially Tess. She had never really ridden a horse before she came to Corus.  
  
"Bareback!" Tess exclaimed going to the side of her pony. "I can't ride good enough to be here. How can I ride bareback?"  
  
"It will be alright, Lachlan and I will help you. Won't we?" she demanded of the young man as she lifted her saddle from the back of her pony Peggy.  
  
"Of course, and you'll get used to it," he told her as he unfastened his pony's girth. "It is good that you are learning both ways so close together, it will be easier. It may not seem like it now but it is."  
  
"How are you doing with balance?" the young noble, hidden from view asked her friend, trying to adjust a buckle on the bridle. Her pale hands were doing the best they could but one of her trembling fits had taken over. She snatched her hands away from the metal, her eyes scanning the area quickly, relief filling her bones as she saw that none around her had noticed. Forcibly she drew in a deep breath praying that it would help with some of the nausea and the tremors as the chatter went on around her.  
  
Weakly she thrust her hands towards the pony's girth, at the same time taking steps towards the pony's chestnut belly. Her hands responded deftly to her commands, quickly removing the saddle. Surprisingly to herself, she managed to have her legs achieve a glide to the fence, her arms juggling the saddle – just managing to keep the saddle in the air.  
  
"Anyone would think you had never carried anything in your life." The willowy girl jumped, when the whisper of her friend's voice reached her ears. "What's got you so on edge?"  
  
"Nothing," she lied. "You just surprised me."  
  
"If you say so," Ianthe remarked to the wind. The two young women were fussing over their saddles on the fence. The shorter, but older woman had her silvery blond hair tied back into a small pleat, the remainder left to hang past her shoulders. It made the girl appear slightly younger than she actually was. Her ice-cold blue eyes were surprisingly warm when she looked at anything, yet they held an amusing secret that only she seemed aware of. Her delicate mouth that was permanently upturned added to the opinion that she had an unknown secret. Most would be in the opinion that she was a northern girl at this description and they would have been right, yet when added to the further description of the young woman they would reconsider. Her nose was strong and proud, but not at all unsightly, it was perfect for her. Her nose added to the dark ochre colour of her skin made it obvious that she had at least one ancestor from somewhere other than northern Tortall. "Is it your mother?"  
  
"Why?" Sophia demanded not waiting for a reply. "What makes you think that?"  
  
Ianthe remarking coolly glanced at the taller girl, achieving with that one indifferent glance several inches to her height, "Maybe it's a reaction like that. It was really the look of thunder on your mother's face."  
  
"We aren't speaking at the moment. Besides, nothing new there, she always has a bee up her ass when I'm around." The black-haired teenager strode rapidly over to her pony. His attention was entirely on the grass he was munching, that was until his saddle blanket was snatched lightly from his back. It was not until Sophia was almost at the fence that the pony registered what had happened, her head sliding round to look at her rider.  
  
Ianthe leaned against the fence, watching curiously as long fingers roughly rearranged the tack on the sturdy fence, their holder deliberately unaware of eyes watching her. "CADET! Instead of watching people work you might like to try it!" Sarge bellowed behind the startled blond. Sophia's head and eyes darted towards the man, her hands continuing their work on their own. Ianthe's head slowly turned towards the voice, shrinking away from the intimidating presence of the man.  
  
She looked up into Sarge's eyes, dimly aware that Sophia was slipping away from the fence to her approaching pony. There were times when she could not tear her attention away from the lithe young woman. At this moment, the mysterious dark-haired beauty had her pony's head in a firm grip, both sets of eyes fastened together with invisible cords. "Yes, Sergeant, sorry Sergeant." Her feet could not move quickly enough away from the man towards her own pony. Sophia sprang up onto the back of the chestnut roan as though she had been doing so all her life. She probably has, Ianthe reminded herself, acutely aware of her own clumsy arms and legs as they pulled her up onto her grey. They served her well enough, though she would never contain the liquid grace that filled every part of Sophia.  
  
Ianthe glanced round to see where all the others in the large dormitory were. She leaned forward on the edge of the bed so that she and Sophia could talk easier. "You going to tell me what's wrong?" she hissed. Sophia looked up from sorting her blankets, quickly crawling to the other side of the bed.  
  
"There is nothing wrong." Ianthe looked her in the eye and quirked an eyebrow. "Nothing that serious, just Mum," she told her, deliberately lowering her eyes and the tone of her voice towards the end. Sophia curled her legs under her so that she could sit on the edge of the bunk.  
  
"You know I've never heard you call your mother Mum before," she said softly. The two of them glanced at Katy as she walked past their bunks, waiting for her to get out of earshot. She smiled at the two and was rewarded with equally cheerful smiles. Yet it was clear to her that they didn't want her company at the moment.  
  
"We aren't very close anymore," she told her, yet realised that Ianthe's nose would want more. "We haven't been for a long time."  
  
"How long?"  
  
"I was sent away when I was eight. That was when my eldest brother was born; it all began to go downhill from there."  
  
"Before that, there was just you?" Ianthe delicately probed.  
  
"Yes, Mum, Da and I, that was it for five years."  
  
"You get on with your Da?"  
  
Sophia grinned nodding, "You'll like him. He's gone back home, but you'll meet him when we go down there for training."  
  
"So things are better between you than your mother? He's not angry with you being here like her?" Sophia laughed dryly.  
  
"He is. He just doesn't show it in the same way as my mother. He was angry because I disappeared and he was worried. He's also had to keep my mother calm. On the other hand, she is angry because I ran off without telling her and ended up here."  
  
"You make it sound like she doesn't care," Ianthe pointed out.  
  
Sophia tilted her head, "The thought has crossed my mind many times."  
  
"She wouldn't be upset with you if she didn't care."  
  
"That would depend on the connotations of the word care." Ianthe frowned at her, she didn't understand. "Care could mean that she is interested in what I do or it could mean she loves me like a daughter."  
  
"She does love you, she's your mother. She looked after you when you were little, you're her daughter," she told her confidently.  
  
"She doesn't want me as her daughter; I'm just a disappointment and an embarrassment to her." Sophia could feel that her eyes went cold and hard.  
  
"How-what do you mean?" The blonde's eyes narrowed and her eyebrows knitted in confusion.  
  
"It doesn't matter. I think it's time we went to sleep," she told her friend brightly, climbing back across her bed. She made the candle beside her bed go out.  
  
Consciously she checked that the window between her own bed and another was ajar. To Ianthe it looked like she was just investigating. It was as though she wanted to know why her flame had been dancing.  
  
"'Night Ianthe, sweet dreams," Sophia told her as she got into bed turning her back on her friend, pulling her blankets up to her chin.  
  
"Night," Ianthe breathed in return. Slowly she mimicked Sophia's actions as she herself went to bed.  
  
Three hours later...  
  
She could hear the night watch calling to each other, the sound mingling in with the heavy breathing and snoring of others in the barrack dormitory, the infrequent hoots of various owls, whickers from the horses' and ponies' mere metres away and the rustle of leaves from the even closer forest. Night was never silent. It was when all went silent that you could tell there was something wrong. That was what she had always been told and believed and for the last few hours that she had lain awake, there had been noise.  
  
Now would probably be a good enough time to leave, she thought. She peeled the covers on the bed gently away from her body, slipping bent over off the narrow wooden bed. Her feet didn't even make a sound on the floorboards as they touched down. She froze. Her head rotating round as her eyes took in everybody in the room, looking for signs of waking or awareness. She was rewarded with the sounds of Ann snoring. Smiling slightly to herself she extended her arm towards the pair of breeches that she had left out. She straightened out her legs slowly, agilely stepping into the legs of the trousers and her naked feet into the soft doe leather shoes that were just under the bunk. Her fingers deftly tucked in her shirt as she stepped towards the open window.  
  
The window was at the back of the building and luckily only the first floor, she could practically climb up and down here in her sleep. She lifted the candle out of its holder and dropped it out the window. Now for the easy part, she thought. Her foot placed itself onto the window sill, pitching the black haired girl up onto the stone.  
  
Ianthe raised her head from her vantage point on her own pillow as Sophia disappeared out of the window. 


	6. friends

The enclosed garden had been left for many years by the palace staff. Even so, it flourished in neglect. Large bushes were everywhere, climbers had taken over every wall, flower beds had burst their borders and the pond was clogged with reeds. Sophia looked around from her vantage point taking in all the smells and colours of awakening plants. Kelly wasn't here.

If the young woman did not appear soon then they would possibly never see each other again. She had already been waiting for her too long, there wasn't much time left. Someone was coming. Sophia shrank back a little more into the wall. The gate was still visible, barely. A girl of about fourteen skidded through the archway nervously, her head looking everywhere and nowhere. Sophia studied the girl, looking for change or warning signs. From this distance she could see that the girl was thinner than when she left, although she was still not skinny. It was what had made her this thin that worried Sophia. It was because of her that she was like this. Sophia stood up soundlessly and stepped out softly from behind the bushes. Kelly jumped backwards as she saw the figure advance from the undergrowth.

"It's ok, it's me!" Sophia told her, stretching out her hand. She took several more steps towards her friend. They could speak in hushed voices now. "You're alone?" she demanded.

"Of course I am. That's why I took so long," the younger girl said defensively. Sophia nodded, coming to stand right in front of her friend. She could see now that her absence had taken its toll. There were lines on her face, and age in her eyes. Sophia was always envious of the girl's eyes. They were dark brown flecked with amber, warm eyes unlike her own blue. The other girl's hair was a mousy brown colour that she could never get under control. The thought that she, Sophia was responsible for this kept on running through her head, all she could do to slow it was grab her friend in a bear hug.

"I've missed you Kells," Sophia said pulling herself away from the girl.

"I've missed you too," Kelani told her, reluctant to say any more. She couldn't look Sophia in the eye.

"I need to know some things. How did Caz take it?" Kelani looked away silently.

"Kelly, answer me!" Sophia held onto the girl's arms refusing to let her pull away.

"He was furious. We both knew he would be. He is obsessed and always has been with you. You were his favourite item, his little doll- "

"Do you really think I need to be told that? I remember it well enough. It is not a part of my life I can easily forget. I see it every time my mother looks at me!" Sophia snapped. Kelani recoiled as far as she could.

"Kelly what's he done to you?" Sophia asked softly still holding onto the other girl's arms. "We can still get you out. You only have to say."

"I can't get out now and you know it. After you leaving he won't let me out of his sight," the girl said resigned. "I threw away my chance."

"Yes, you did, but there is always a way," she told her friend. Sophia tilted her head. "If he won't let you out of his sight, how are you here?" She let go of the smaller girl and stepped back. The amber eyes widened.

"He said he would kill me if I did not meet with you," Kelly said frantically, tears beginning to fall.

"Why? What did he want you to do?" The shorter girl started mumbling incoherently. Sophia reached infront of her and grabbed the girl's trembling arms. The voice she spoke with was dangerously calm, "What did he want you to do?"

"He wanted me to get you here."

"Why Kelani?"

"I don't know why, he never told me."

"How would he know we were even meeting? Unless you told him." Sophia realised. She laughed. "It never occurred to me that you would betray me like that, but it is not the first time is it? I see it all so clearly now. You even sold me out to my parents."

"No Sophia, he made me!" she begged grabbing onto the young lady's sleeve. Sophia twisted her arm, causing Kelly's grip to release.

"Be silent!" Command filled Sophia's voice. Kelani fell to her knees reduced to whimpering. "He made you tell my parents?" the girl could only nod in agreement. "All this time you have been telling him everything. How else would he have known so much that has happened? I was blind. I thought I was protecting you. I wasn't, _you_ were. I begged for nothing, I was beaten for nothing, I was-"

"Stop it! Stop it, I don't want to know," the shorter girl whispered.

"No, you would not. It is all on your conscience now. I hope you can live with yourself. I am washing my hands clean of this. After all he has done, I thought I was helping you, but you were looking after yourself. You used me and I trusted you! That is something I can never forgive you for. You helped him do those, those _vile _things!" she spat. "Do not speak to me _ever_ again. Our so-called friendship is over. Goodbye Kelani Kabban." Sophia's fury was barely contained as she eyed the sobbing girl. She looked like a helpless child. The young trainee turned and walked away.

"Sophia!" the desperate voice of a young woman echoed round the courtyard. Sophia stopped. Her eyes closed in regret as her tears began to escape. She sighed, before continuing on in her unwavering steps.

She ran. Escaping from the courtyard was all she could think about. All she wanted to think about. Her head was spinning. Kelani betrayed her. Her best friend had betrayed her to Casimir. She turned a corner and stopped and leant against the wall to hold her upright. There was nothing she could do to prevent her legs from giving way as she slid down the wall. The tears soaked her cheeks making paths in the salty water.

Disgusted. There was no other word that she could use to describe how she was feeling. She had treated Kelly horribly, even for what she had done. All those times that Kelly had kept away. After she had gotten hurt or before, she wasn't unaware, just burying her head in the sand. Her hand lashed out hitting the wall behind her. She couldn't help it she just had to hit something.

Unsteadily she stood, her hands angrily scrubbing away the moisture on her cheeks and the strands of her black hair that had stuck to it. She could not stay in the hallway much longer. She had to get back before she was noticed absent and someone would see her in the corridors soon. She set of quickly.

Sophia kept close to the wall of the barracks as she tried to find the right window. Luckily only one of the palace staff had seen her she thought as she realised she could feel eyes on her. "Stupid paranoia," she grumbled. The forest was in front of her and she knew there were creatures in there that could see her, she felt them. Not that much further, she told herself. Come on Sophia you've been in worse situations than this. There. Her toe had hit the candlestick that she had dropped. She picked it up and put it in her belt. Now this was the easy bit. She smiled grimly as she jumped slightly to get a handhold on the stone wall.

Not a soul stirred as she entered into the dormitory through the window. Good. She was silent as she quickly put the candle stick back and took off her breeches and shoes. She could get a couple of hours of much needed sleep she decided as she climbed into bed and closed her eyes, completely unaware that the girl on the next bed was awake and observing.

"Well, well, well that did not go as planned. Did it Kelani?" The young man asked as he glided towards the brown haired girl. She was distraught and struggling to get off the ground and away from the advancing man.

"She worked out what was happening. It wasn't my fault," she babbled desperately. He lent over as she tried to get away, deliberately standing on her hand. She cried out.

"Are you making excuses?" he asked in a sweet tone that was dripping with venom.

"No, no I'm not." He pressed harder on her hand. She gasped in pain. "I'm sorry, I did not mean to."

"Kelani, it does not matter. I forgive you," he told her smiling. He removed his foot. The now placated girl snatched it away and cradled it against her chest. His smile faded as he kicked her hard in the face. She rolled across the ground with the force that he struck, creating a small path of blood.

"You have failed me too many times Kelani. I will not have it any longer." The black haired man who was called Casimir told her. He turned, with only the noise of swishing black velvets following in his wake as he confidently strode away.

A/N: so what did you think? I'm sorry about not posting for a while. I have been trying to work out how to write this part and where the story is going for the now. I know where it is going in the distant future, but needed to work out the present and the back-story.

Which leads me onto the next topic, I am looking for a beta. Nala has offered in the past and if she is still interested then can you email me. If not, then I am looking for volunteers.

I of course have to thank the wonderfully faithful reviewers who make it worthwhile to write .


	7. Chapter 7

This version of the chapter is the second post I couldn't help going back and re-editing it. Thank you for all the reviews. Elizabeth (Lizzie, Beth) is Sophia if that helps.

* * *

She knew she was falling. It was like time had slowed, but the cobblestones were still rushing towards her. She hit the cold grey stone. The impact of the granite on her cheek and struggling chest was paralyzing. Ringing from her face hitting the ground reverberated round her head and the pain that was previously centred on her hand and face was everywhere as he came towards her. The tall man's shadow fell across her as she tried to crawl away.

"You're going the wrong way Kelani," he hissed in her ear as his hand descended onto her shoulder. Sophia jerked upright in her bed causing Ianthe to jump back and remove her offending hand.

"Mithros! Sophia, I will never wake you up again. Gods! You almost gave me a heart attack." Sophia looked at the young woman clutching her chest.

"Sorry, I was having a nightmare and you startled me," she said slowly to the blond woman at the side of her bed.

"No worries, no one got hurt. Anyway, it's breakfast, time to get up," the girl continued. "I thought you _ought _to get woken up for that."

"Sophia, you ok? You still don't look like you're all awake," Ianthe asked as Sarge lectured the trainees in one of the indoor practice yards. Sophia stayed silent as Sarge's eyes swept over the group. "I'm fine," she whispered, eyes on Sarge.

"Really?" Ianthe questioned. "They why-"

"Ianthe and Blair." Ianthe looked around trying to work out what she had missed. "Sophia and Lachlan, Kenna and Krispin," Sarge carried on pairing up the recruits.

"He's pairing us up 'Anthe," Sophia told the girl as the recruits began moving to find their partners. Pairs were already moving into space. "Come on Lockie, let's see what you can do," Sophia told him as he approached. She took Lachlan's arm and led him away.

"This should be fun. Do you not think, my Lady?" he asked her.

"How so, my Lord?" she enquired mockingly.

"Well, kind lady, one would imagine that you are quite capable in the proper use of a sword."

"I will admit that I have had the opportunity of some instruction; however the degree to which I have had will be up to you to decide. I on the other hand, am quite aware of the level of your instruction. I know that one's family such as yours would never have neglected that."

"My family?" he asked, taken aback that she knew this. He looked down at the young woman beside him, as she quirked her eyebrows.

"I was a friend to your sister. That seems like such a long time ago now. I hope that she is well?" Lachlan was staring at her doing a rather good impression of a fish Sophia thought as she handed him his practise sword.

"Eh, yes she is fine. How-when did you know that it was me?"

"I've known for a while. Not at first, but for a few weeks. I have a feeling we have been paired deliberately. We have both had instruction from a certain Naxen. Here looks good," she told him brightly as she stepped back and formed a guard position.

"If you or your partner gets a fatal blow, stop. BEGIN!" Sarge bellowed as he moved over to the door to speak to some men who were waiting all the while keeping a close watch on them. There was a flurry of activity as the recruits started trading blows and the other instructors begin to observe. Sophia and Lachlan on the other hand had not even struck a blow when some pairs had stopped. They were circling one another, waiting to see who would be the first to strike. "Lachlan! Sophia! Do something!" one of the trainers shouted. Sophia moved first, with each of her fast blows being met just as quickly by Lachlan. She was so caught up in the fight that she didn't notice that they were the only two still left trading blows. The other cadets had, so did Sarge and the men he were speaking to causing a circle to form around the two trainees.

There, she saw an opening and snaked her sword in to tap his chest where his heart was when she felt the tip of his sword on her stomach. Each took a step back, breathing heavily and bowed.

"If the two of you spend that long fighting one person then on the battle field the man behind him will kill you," Sarge criticised. The smiles that were on their faces faded as they were being chastised. "The Provost's men want to speak to you. Return as soon as you can, we'll be here all morning. Reform your pairs, Lachlan sit out and you can join in later."

Sophia walked warily towards the two men aware that her back was the focus of several pairs of eyes, including her mother who was talking to Sarge. The men were dressed in ordinary clothes, the youngest of them wearing the latest fashion colours, burgundy breaches and a dark green shirt and the eldest, a man of about fifty who had a grey beard and hair was in brown breaches and a cream shirt. The blue cloaks they both were wearing bared the mark of the Provost on the breast as did the broach holding their cloaks. Those could be easily bought, she thought cynically as her eyes took in the detail of their clothes.

The younger blond man shifted on his feet as he noticed the young girl's suspicious gaze. _New to this_ she thought. The older man stayed still where they stood about half way between the door and the group of people. She idly dangled her sword beside her as she walked, never once taken her eyes of the men. As she approached them she drew herself majestically up to her full height and beyond.

"Who are you? Why do you need to speak to me?" she demanded her unyielding eyes looking between the two of them. She dismissed the younger and focused on the elder. "My Lady, I am John Miller and this is my colleague Christopher Collinson. We are detectives for the Provost. We are investigating the death of a young woman," he said.

"How does that involve me?" Sophia asked, but she already knew. Kelly.

"Perhaps we should go elsewhere," Collinson suggested.

"Not until you tell me," She ordered before Miller could speak.

"The young woman that was found dead was one Kelani Kabban. Do you know her?" Miller asked softly.

"Yes, em, she is, _was, _a friend of mine. What happened?" she looked away from both men.

"Shall we go somewhere else to talk about this? We need to ask you some questions." Sophia nodded despondently.

"What happened?" Sophia begged once they were sitting in one of the guard rooms in the palace.

"This morning a young woman was found just inside the walls of the castle. It looks like she fell from the wall," Mr Collinson said.

"Are you sure it is Kelani?" she asked.

"Yes, she had her room key on her. The housemistress, Anna White, identified her. Ms White told us that the two of you were good friends," Collinson told her. certain

"Kelly would not be on the wall. She couldn't have fallen from it," she told them determined, crossing her arms.

"What makes you think that?" Miller said cutting in.

"She's terrified of heights. She's only ever been up two steps of the wall and couldn't go any further. There is no reason what so ever she would willingly go up there," she told them firmly.

"Are you saying that Miss Kabban's death was not an accident?"

"I never said that."

"No, but you have implied it. Why would anyone push her Sophia?" Collinson asked leaning forward eager to hear what she had to say. She looked away from him and studied the wall.

"I don't know. All I know is that she wouldn't go up there."

"My Lady, you are not telling us the truth."

"I am," she told them stubbornly.

"Ok. When did you and Kelani last speak to each other?"

A few hours later…

Collinson and Miller left the guard room with Sophia still inside.

"She's not telling us anything. She's answering the questions but claims she knows nothing," Collinson said disappointedly.

"She definitely knows something. I think she's scared," Miller reasoned.

"But of what?"

"Who more like it," Miller corrected leaning against the wall. The captain of the guard entered announcing the man behind him. "Your Majesty," Miller said bowing, Collinson following.

"A young woman from the university has been found dead in my palace. She also happens to be a friend of my goddaughter whom you are now questioning in connection with the death. I would like to know what you have found out and why you are questioning the young lady," the King demanded sitting on one of the chairs.

Miller being the senior provost man there began to speak. "We went to speak to the Lady as we were told that the two were very good friends. When we spoke to the lady she indicated that Miss Kabban was not on the wall by choice that she would be up there against her will. When we questioned the lady further she claimed ignorance, your Majesty." The two detectives bowed.

"She is in there?" the King asked.

"Yes, your Majesty," Miller replied. The blue velvet clad King stood up and strode into the room containing the young girl closing the door firmly behind him.

Sophia looked up threw blurred eyes. "Uncle Jon?" she pleaded weakly.

"My poor girl," Jonathan said moving to crouch beside her chair and taking one of her hands. "Why would someone want to kill your friend?" Sophia let out a small sob.

"It's my fault she died." Jonathan frowned slightly. "I didn't push her, but I lied. I saw her last night. I snuck out last night to meet her and we had an argument. She was upset and I said horrible things to her! The last thing I said to her was 'never speak to me ever again' and she can't now, because she's dead!" she sobbed.

"Come here," he told her pulling the girl into an embrace. "It is not your fault that she died. You can make it up to her by helping them find out what happened to her." Sophia sobbed even more clutching the man tighter.

* * *

"Lizzie? Lizzie!" Sophia snapped out of her musings and looked towards Alex. "What are you doing out and about at this time?"

"Just thinking. What are _you_ doing out and about at this time?" she returned.

"I heard someone outside and I got concerned about your safety," he teased. He walked over their marble balcony, sat down beside her on the woven straw cushioned sofa and watched what they could of the rain that late at night. Luckily this part of the balcony was covered.

"Ah, but as you can see I am quite alright."

"No, you are not alright. I know you well enough now to see that you are not." She drew her knees closer to her chest, tucked her hair behind her ears and leaned her head on her knees. She turned to look at her companion.

"A friend died four years ago today," she told him quietly.

"Were you close?"

"At one time. We had had a falling out and she died that night. They've never arrested anyone for it." She looked away from him as she felt her eyes moisten. He saw. He moved his right arm and placed around her in a hug. It wasn't something they had ever done, hug that is. That was not how their friendship worked. It had sort of been forced upon them and so their animosity from being rivals had developed into a playful teasing and competitiveness, certainly not hugging and not being free with information. But he could see that she needed a hug and he realised he didn't mind being the one to offer it. What was even surprising to him than him hugging her and wanting to hug Elizabeth was that she leant into it. He tightened his hold on her and still there were no objections.

"You're freezing," he told her some time later. "How long have you been out here?" _No wonder_ he thought as he looked at her. She was wearing Sandari nightclothes that were not as warm as western land clothing. They were baggy legged pale blue cotton trousers that sat low on her hips, the white top would have been scandalous back home in Galla and Tortall as it was so little material and tight, the hem only covered to her navel emphasising her flat toned stomach , the sleeves were non-existent in that they were slightly wider than string and was low cut just avoiding to show cleavage. She had put on the deep blue cashmere cardigan that she had worn at dinner, for all the heat it created. The sleeves were ¾ length as she had told him, with the main part being shorter than her top it did not even fasten and was rounded at the top. He had got used to Sandaran's and their clothes now and thought she had looked pretty at dinner, she still did, but she was sad.

"I don't know," she said turning her head up towards his. There eyes met and she didn't realise that she was cold anymore. She couldn't help but notice that his hair was sleep tousled. It was short for a Dakenvolhar by being above his ears, but it was long for a well-born man that he was. He had never told her that, but she had managed to conclude that he was. His eyes were a turquoise colour verging on the green. She hadn't noticed that before she has just thought that they were green with no flecs of blue in them at all. His eyes were the sea and she was the sinking ship. She was now very aware of the fact that he was shirtless and very well muscled.

"I'll go get you something to keep you warm," he told her breaking the look. She quickly pulled away from him and watched the rain fall as he went back into his room. However, he watched her almost the entire way inside. He came back with one of the blankets of his bed and wrapped it around her shoulders. He sat down beside her, drawing the blanket around him also and slipping his arm about her again. She didn't lean into him this time. "Got us something else as well," he told her. She looked at what he held in his hand.

"I don't drink," she said distantly.

"Of course you don't," he told her patronisingly as he uncorked the bottle of rum and took a drink.

"Aw, give it here. It might help me sleep," she told him taking the bottle out of his hands and taking a large gulp. "Ack!" she coughed. "That could help strip paint! Where did you get it?"

"A shop at the market. It's the local stuff," he told her laughing. She raised both her eyebrows at him. She took another swig of the amber coloured liquid. "Are you looking forward to seeing your family again?"

"I am at the moment. In a couple of weeks I'll be going mad and want to go away again." He laughed sliding the bottle out of her hands and took a drink.

"Families. You can pick your friends but not the relatives."

"Too true," she said pulling the blanket tighter around her and leaned into his embrace. He looked down at her face, noting the red eyes and nose, her long eyelashes and alluring lips. Her blue eyes flicked up to his and paused to meet his intense green ones. This time neither pulled away. Both heads began to move towards each other, their lips meeting in a tender kiss. He pulled back to put the bottle down on the on the table and away from the two causing the blanket to fall off him. When he turned back to look at Elizabeth she had moved slightly away from him looking at something on the other side of the courtyard obviously about to start moving indoors. He wasn't good with women and knew it. "Elizabeth?" she didn't respond. He gently put his hand under her chin and turned her head in his direction, her eyes downcast. "Lizzie?" she looked up and met his. He wanted her. He hadn't admitted to himself until then that he wanted her in that way. "Lizzie," he breathed. He saw surprise register on her face and then a flicker of desire that she quickly hid. Alex waited for a few moments in which Elizabeth stayed where she was, both their eyes locked on each other. He was waiting to see if she was going to move away from him, she never did. He gently pulled her head towards him and kissed her tenderly again. She slid her fingers through his hair bringing him closer.

Sometime later Elizabeth moved away from him breathlessly. At the look of hurt in his eyes she smiled and stood up holding his hand. She gently tugged on his arm and turned towards his room. "Are you coming?" she asked.

"Are you sure?"

"Would I have asked if I wasn't?" she responded, no thoughts of Lachlan in her head at all. He smiled as he stood, following her into his bedroom.

* * *

I'm going to shamelessly beg for reviews now, please, please, please review good or bad.I do listen to what is said. So, please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Here is the next part hope you enjoy, sorry for confusing some people.

Thanks to Jules-Gemma, confusedpink, darkness gathered, alenor and commander rhade for the reviews. Sorry for confusing some of you, the first few chapters are flashbacks.

* * *

Sophia was sure it was a dream. She remembered falling asleep back in Sandara, but the view from the fifth floor window said it was Corus. The palace was in the distance up on its hill with the forest beside it, she would recognise that shape anywhere. This apartment and the street felt familiar also, from the baker down the street to the jeweller on the corner and the tavern on the street that crosses this one. For some reason she knew that to enter the building she had to cross a garden, that the woman who lived over the hall from her was a merchant's mistress called Hannah who she sometimes had tea with or that the middle aged woman at the end of the hall was once a seamstress before she had her children and made some of Sophia's dresses. It was a quaint, pretty little street, quiet. It was a dead-end, most of the buildings were houses or apartments except the shops at the crossroad. There were window boxes and hanging baskets outside most windows and doors putting colour into the street. They were flowering, putting the time of year as being spring/summer. It felt warm, her skin was clammy and her dress was light summer material. Judging by the sun it was early afternoon-

"Must you go?" She turned from the side of the window and let go of the dark wooden rafter.

"Uh huh, you know I promised to take my sister to a play," she said with amusement to the bare-chested man sitting in the pale green covered bed. Alex! She thought distantly, unconnected to the dark blue clad woman that was her, yet not. Yet, she knew that the blue dressed woman loved him dearly, knew in a sense that she felt it also. Alex! ALEX! I don't love Alex! I'm attracted to him, but he is unbelievably irritating! She could feel herself daintily stepping over the floorboards to the bed, but she was powerless.

"Will you do up the back please?" she asked charmingly looking the dirty blond haired man in the eyes.

"If you insist on batting your eyelashes at me in that way then I will have to refuse," he told her as he unpeeled the coverlets and walked across the bed on his knees to her side. She rewarded him with a dazzling smile and turned around lifting her long dishevelled black hair.

She stiffened for a moment when she felt his fingers on the small of her back. "Oh, I'm sorry, have I got cold hands?" he said innocently.

"Not very," she told him innocuously.

"Oh, so it's ok for me to do this?" he asked trailing his fingers slowly up her spine.

"Yep, perfectly ok to do that," she said unconcerned. He smiled when he felt her shiver. "And that," she told him as he kissed her tenderly on the neck. Slowly she turned; their two faces millimetres apart.

"I thought I was doing up your buttons?" She made a show of feeling the back of her dress as she dropped her hair.

"You know you weren't doing a very good job. I feel no buttons done up at all. You wouldn't want me to go around outside like this would you? I would catch a chill."

"You see, you made the mistake of having me do _up_ your buttons when you know these hands," he told her moving a gentle hand along her jaw bone. "They are so much better at undoing them." She smiled then leaned in and kissed him.

"As much as I hate to say it, I really need to leave now," she said pulling away, and then swiftly kissed him again. Reluctantly he began to do the buttons up on the back of her dress.

"Right, give me a slow twirl so I can see that those buttons have been done properly. Don't want any body else to see any skin or for you to get a chill," he added almost as an after thought. She stopped in her twirl and looked over her shoulder at the man.

"'Love you," she told him fondly. His smile lit up his entire face as he rose seamlessly from the bed drawing her into another kiss. He drew back from the kiss, her head cupped in both of his hands.

"You are the most beautiful person I have ever known or met and I love you completely," he told her breathlessly. "Marry me." She blinked, her head pulling backwards slightly to meet his eyes.

"Wha-?"

"Will you marry me?" he asked her confidently taking her hands.

"You mean it, don't you?" her voice said quietly. He nodded. "I need to go." She stepped away from him, he held onto one of her hands and she stopped.

"Lizzie-" she silenced him by putting her fingers on his lips.

"I'm not saying no," she told him smiling kindly. "We just need to talk first. I'll be back later, after I see my sister. The play starts at three; we're going to dinner afterwards so I should be back 7.30-8 o'clock. I'll see you later tonight, I swear." She kissed the top of his hand and let it go as and quickly stepped towards the steps down into the room.

As she woke she was aware of the heartbeat underneath her head. Slowly, with much sleep in her vision she tilted her head up the torso of the man that was her pillow and froze in shock. ALEX! Gods! I have slept with Alexei Griegson! Sophia, you stupid, stupid girl, what about Lachlan? These thoughts only took moments accompanied with the memory of what happened last night between herself and Alexei.

Gently she moved his arm that was encircling her waist and sat up casting a look around the room for her errant clothing. Delicately she moved to her side of the bed and toward her underwear and quickly snatched it up and put it on. In her haste she accidently knocked over a small metal dish that contained some loose change making a rather loud clatter in the otherwise silent room. In doing so, she saw the face on the clock at the side of the bed.

"What?" she heard spoken groggily from behind. She turned her head to look at the awakening man. "We're going to be late! We need to leave in 15 to be at breakfast on time!" she shrieked.

"Calm down," he told her. "We will be there on time." His attention was caught on the image of Elizabeth standing with her back to him on very good, long lithe legs.

"Are you using your eyes? I look a mess! Can you pass my trousers, please? It is going to take more than 15 minutes for me to get ready," she told him taking the blue cotton trousers from him and putting them on. "I need my top can you see it?"

"No," he told her scanning the room.

"Yours will have to do," she said standing from the bed to get the shirt over by the wall. She turned from putting on the over sized shirt, "Why aren't you moving?" she demanded.

"Enjoying the view?" he raised his hands in surrender when he saw the look on her face. "I'm joking! I just woke up. It takes me a little time to wake up in the morning. See! I'm moving now." He told her standing up.

"I can see that!" She stalked off towards the main door so she didn't have to look at the incredibly attractive and toned muscular body of Alexei. She pulled on the handle of the door with some force trying to leave his bedroom as soon as possible.

"It's locked," he reminded her.

"I know!" she told him turning the key. "I will see you out here at half past," she told him referring to the anteroom, slamming the door. Alex immediately burst out the laugh that he had been containing while he walked into the bathroom.

"Is everything alright?" Lena asked opposite her as she poured milk on her cereal.

"Yes, everything is fine," she said puzzled. "Why?"

"You just seem a little off this morning. However, if you are sure everything is fine, then just ignore me."

"I already do that," Elizabeth teased passing the milk.

"And everyone else," Alexei cut in.

"I dunno, she listens to me when I say you're being an idiot," Gel told him.

"I listen!" Elizabeth said in earnest.

"Sure you do," Lena assured patronisingly. Elizabeth glared at the slightly older Sandari woman. She looked like a Sandaran with her olive skin and warm sun-kissed brown hair. Yet, her nature was not. She didn't appear to take matters and life too seriously, constantly smiled and even argued. The concept of an easy going, serious, aloof people was being turned on its head, and Elena was not the only Sandaran like this.

A young Sandaran boy with a small stack of papers stopped to speak very quietly in Lena's ear before handing over the papers. She glanced at them before handing them around the table.

"You certainly made an impression on Carmina Argyris, Beth. You have been requested to be with her for the morning. She suspects you have a talent in her area," she told her as she handed the page of paper to Elizabeth. Looking down at her schedule she saw that she was in the building in the centre of the gardens on the west side of the compound. Again. It wasn't that bad really. The gardens were beautiful and the rooms inside were very comfortable. It was just difficult to keep up the story that she was Elizabeth Allan with a woman who istantly put one at ease.

"A talent?" she questioned. "What exactly is her area? I thought she talked through people's problems and helped them that way."

"That is just a part of what she does. She is Carta-Tivanli, a guide."

"So, Beth's talent is to guide people?" Tangel questioned.

"No, people who have a particular group of talents tend to be a Tivanli. They use them to guide people or council others. My people prize them as the most honest and the most perceptive of others. Qualities my people value above all others."

"You still have not told me what talent I could possibly possess."

"That is because I do not really know. Being clairvoyant would be my guess, but in what way or strength I cannot estimate. Carmina is extremely gifted and sits on the Mindal as Tivanli, the youngest in over 200 generations."

"200 generations!" Alexei proclaimed.

"The Mindal as Tivanli?" Elizabeth enquired. Lena just smiled at Alexei before answering the dark haired woman.

"The Mindal as Tivanli means Circle of Tivanli. They run the order. Each of the seven orders meet on a Monday and a Thursday in their councils, their structures and names of the meeting vary except they all have a leader and a representative from the houses. The houses have their own meetings on a Tuesday and Friday, but they all have the same structure of a head, 3 elders, 1 representative from each of the orders and four others that have functions within the houses. Then on the Wednesday and Sunday the heads and leaders of the houses and orders along with a few others meet with the one that you would call the monarch."

"That is complicated," Alexei told her.

"I imagine that is so for you Alex, and the rest of you. However, I have grown up with understanding this from an early age and I do not find it so. It would be simpler having a system similar to the Tortallens and Gallans, but your monarchs like to know all important issues occurring within their kingdom, ours expects to know everything that is happening here and abroad. Lots of information must be processed, discussed and researched."

"Our system works without excess complications," Alex countered tersely.

"Yes, it does. I am merely saying that it would not sit well with my people if that were the case. It is a long tradition to do this, stemming from my people having to operate in secret. When we came here there were many different groups that did not always see eye to eye and had different concerns. This way allowed the least friction and all information that is relevant is collated in the monarch meetings," Lena countered smoothly. "I was not critisizing you country, just pointing out the difference in governing that exists here as Elizabeth requested to know more. It is of value for you to know this. After all you are being trained to be Sandarans."

"I am aware of why we are here, Elena. The Stacia are a problem for all of us," Alex replied not quite as cool as the older woman. The large gong rang that sang throughout the main part of the school signalling that the students had ten minutes to get to class.

"Time for you all to go to appointments, especially you Alex, the punctual William Jones is not a man you keep waiting, particularly when he is giving tuition on hand-to-hand." He bowed politely from the bench and quickly rose and left catching up with some of the other men from their table.

"Remember that Alex and I are part of a unit that are the most loyal in the entire Gallan army and one of their roles is to be responsible for the King's protection," Tangel reminded Lena before leaving the benches at the table.

* * *

Please review! I do listen to what people have to say and it does make me write more. It just takes me a while to write the end part of a chapter. 


	9. Chapter 9

Carmina smiled widely at Elizabeth as she opened the door. The young Sandaran woman was certainly curvaceous, but not overweight and certainly pretty. Her skin was deeply tanned with her honey brown hair sun-streaked and emotional wide set brown eyes. The woman wore an amber jewelled drop in the middle of her forehead that matched her bright yellow top and white linen trousers. She just glowed with friendliness and happiness. With the mood she was in at the moment, Elizabeth wanted to turn round and go right out the door again. The woman was just too chirpy for her rather bleak mood that morning.

"How are you?"

"I am very well thank you and how are you?" Elizabeth replied smiling for all appearances naturally.

"That good hey?" Carmina replied laughing as she plonked down onto the cushions. "Ow! I shouldn't have done that. I'm just getting around to dropping the baby weight and I'm forgetting I don't quite have the same padding like I used to."

"You have a child?" Elizabeth enquired politely, Carmina nodded.

"Her name's Sotiria, Tiri really. She's almost 6 months," Carmina smiled and rearranged the cushions that she was sitting on. "Have a seat, get comfortable, relax and I will get us some tea." The woman bounced to her feet as Elizabeth sedately sat on the cushions that were arranged on the floor on a pale lilac thick linen, square rug. Looking round the office she noticed more than she did yesterday. The walls were the same bright cream plaster that was common in Sandara, but she could now see that the bottom of all the walls were painted in a mural of green grass and lilac flowers in a way that reminded her of a summer meadow just before day break. Large canvas paintings of single flowers were interspersed with incredibly real looking pictures of massive sail boats.

Carmina broke Elizabeth's reverie of the artwork in the room as she carried a tray that was like a mini table. "Here we go," she said as she set the table/tray down in front of them. "That was quick," Elizabeth commented. The Sandaran sat down opposite Elizabeth and smiled. "Not really, the tea was almost ready to pour when you arrived."

"Good timing," Elizabeth told her raising her own tea cup to her mouth and took a sip. It had a ginger taste and something else she could not identify.

"I knew you would arrive early," Carmina deliberately set down the cup on the tray. "I would imagine that you are familiar in knowing certain events will occur that seem unlikely or unexpected by most."

"No, I would not say that I do. I attempt to consider all possibilities and in doing so it may appear that that is the case, but I do not _know_."

"Are you sure?" Carmina paused slightly looking intently at Elizabeth, then shrugged. "Well if you are sure about that. Do you ever feel someone is lying to you even if there is no reason to suspect so?"

"I don't see how this is connected to me being here?" Elizabeth asked gesturing at the room and the two occupants.

"My people are very perceptive in many things. Part of it is because we see things that others do not. Most would say it is instincts, but they are never wrong in knowing another's next moves in combat," the woman grinned showing her teeth. "Very handy when there are one hundred kaltans on you winning a sparring fight. One can know if someone is lying, a person's presence even in a crowd and the good old fortune telling of someone's past, present and future. These are the most common attributes of an infrequent talent. There are also the rarer forms that can also manifest in being able to see the spirit world, being prophetic, knowing some of another's thoughts to but name a few. Do any of these seem familiar to you?"

"A few."

"You do not need to be so guarded with me."

"Do I not? I am an intelligence agent in a foreign country talking to a citizen of another country that from what I understand stopped being a civilian at the age of four. This country embodies the term nationalism and so I would prefer to be wary of talking about myself."

"It is true that we are all raised to serve the country and what we stand for. However, I am a Carta-Tivanli and we are slightly different. We take blood oaths of confidentiality. Our duty… _my _duty is to my charges, we keep their secrets and they get to talk about anything that they want. We help our charges on an emotional and personal level, most using their talents. I am a Carta-Tivanli, a guide," she told the black haired woman in a clipped and abrupt tone. She sighed and continued, "We all have some talents and we are to help guide those onto a path and help them make decisions."

"I don't need any help with my _path_, I know where my life is going." The Sandaran just smiled at her condescendingly. The image that floated through Elizabeth's mind of her hitting the Sandaran to make her stop smiling helped calm the anger bubbling through her blood. Carmina's smile never faltered but her eyes did and Elizabeth suddenly remembered that one of the talents was mind reading.

"So much for soothing tea, I thought that you could benefit with some instruction. You have some talents; I know that from meeting you yesterday. These talents can enhance the skills you already have and give you new ones that undoubtedly will come in useful. Do not consider our nationalities if you want to be taught, think of this arrangement as teacher and a student. This arrangement between our countries involves us working together, by teaching you it will help my country and yours. Let me teach you?"

_Imagine the possibilities!_ Her mind raced, _being able_ _to tell who was lying to me and picking people out in a crowd, knowing an opponents next move! _Elizabeth inclined her head, "Very well."

"Good," Carmina said lifting the tray and its contents out the way and took both her hands. "Now close your eyes and concentrate on my voice."

"May you find the way," Carmina greeted, taking the woman's hands and kissing her on both cheeks.

"And may you find it with me," Elena told her.

"Meeting here does not look suspicious in the least Lena," Carmina casually remarked looking out of the window down onto the twinkling city below. She pulled her wrap up onto her shoulders to keep out the evening chill.

"As far as anyone is concerned I am talking to my councillor," Elena directed.

"I understand, but I do not like doing this."

"You are not breaking any oaths, you never discussed this with Beth and so that is not betraying anything."

"But it's what I saw about her! She has no idea why we are interested in her, none what so ever. She is beginning to trust me and I am to report to you and I don't know how many others about her! Our entire people will know the truth about her first! You are not the one she may punish for betraying her!" Carmina stated harshly.

"By your response I take it that she is the one?" Elena asked calmly, Carmina nodded reluctantly. "Then she cannot be told, it would interfere with the future. Besides, who would be able to hear that at nineteen? At any age?" Elena pondered so quietly that Carmina almost never heard. Elena straightened ever so slightly going back in to command mode and then continued when she saw that Carmina was not going to say anything. "From what you saw, is the information that we have on her correct?"

"Family wise, yes. Everything else for the most part is correct and the assumptions that were made are also correct. Except for what happened between Elizabeth and Casimir of Blue Lake, which was more complicated than we thought."

"How could that get more complicated?" Elena saw that the woman was going to reply, but cut her off. "I will read about it later. Update the records and continue the lessons. There is time after evening meal when we are meant to be in prayer. I think the Goddess would allow your absence. She is willing for you to teach her?" she asked. Carmina nodded. "Good. It'll begin tomorrow evening. You are still to attend the Wednesday Court meeting and give a briefing. I will see you then," Elena ordered, finishing on a dismissal. Carmina stood at attention and bowed her head with her hands placed palms together before walking away from the slightly older woman.

Her session with Carmina had strangely enough made her much more relaxed. A blessing when she was in her hand-to-hand classes. When she came back to her room just after seven there was no sign of Alexei in the anteroom or in his own room or the balcony.

Their conversation would just have to wait until later, she thought before heading towards the shower.

When she was finished getting ready she ventured out onto the balcony to see if Alex was there yet. He wasn't. She treaded across the marble to his balcony door, her high heels making some noise. Standing in front of the curtained door she took a deep breath before knocking. There wasn't any answer. Slowly opening the door she peered round the edge and called his name.

"Just a minute," he replied from the bathroom. She went to sit down on the bed and thought better of it. She smiled when she saw that he had found her top and blue cardigan and had neatly folded them on one of the chairs. She picked them up off the chair and glanced at the desk. The reports that he had obviously just been writing were lying out to dry on the desk.

"Beth?" she jumped and turned round feeling exceedingly guilty and childish. Alexei was standing by the door to the bathroom in a towel. Only a towel, she thought. He moved further into the room.

She started to offer apologies. "Sorry, I thought you were dressed," she said coming to her feet. "I wanted to talk to you before dinner, I'll wait for you outside." She quickly walked towards the balcony completely focused on the image of outside and left before he could formulate what he wanted to say.

He finished dressing and sat down in his room to put off going to speak to Beth outside. He liked her, he really did, but they worked together and this made things awkward, he reasoned. After a few minutes he walked outside to see her leaning on the balcony rail and stood next to her taking in the view.

"I'm reliably told by my sister that biting your nails never produces nice ones," he told her. The young woman had her chin resting on one hand biting her nails looking out across the city and to the sun setting over the sea. She jumped when he started to speak and removed her hand from her face as she turned and gracefully leant backwards onto the rail.

"They'll live."

"What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked already knowing what it was about, but he reasoned it may be work related.

"Us."

"Us?" he realised as soon as he said it that it was the wrong thing as he saw the tightly masked anger on her face.

"You know what I mean," she sneered.

"Yeah, I do, but Beth what exactly does _us_ mean?"

"Collegues, partners and I hope friends," she said, as her anger faded to quiet regret. "That's all we can be."

"Then we'll always be friends Lizzie," the tension went from her face and she smiled slightly at him in relief and for him calling her Lizzie. Yet, there was a small part of her that realised fully what he had said. She looked away shyly and then frowned, biting her lip.

"Liz?" She snapped her head up to look at him. "Was there something else you wanted to say?" She looked at him searchingly. He shifted uncomfortably at her intense gaze.

"I'm sorry about how I was this morning."

"Lizzie you don't need to apologize to me."

"Yes, I do."

"No, you don't. We need to work well together and us getting embarrassed with each other gets in the way." She knew he was right and smiled slightly.

"We may need to work on that," she teased.

"I'm quite happy to see you without any clothes to work on that," he said soberly.

She swatted his arm, "Ass." He grinned at her

"Then everything is good between us?" he asked.

"Yeah, it is," she said friendly.

"Good, you ready to go to dinner?" she nodded and stood. He followed her as they made their way through his room talking about what they did that day.

Sandarans were a very religious people Sophia observed. She had never noticed that with her childhood tutor nor with any of the Sandarans that she knew from home, yet they _all_ went to prayer at 9.30. Bells rang throughout the entire city, the streets cleared except for the odd few who were late. Religious icons were everywhere, the public water fountains were representations of their goddess in all her forms, every doorway and window had symbols above them that were as she was told a blessing.

The Sandarans of their party had excused themselves from their group to go to prayer. As for the rest of them, they were going back to collect money for a trip into the city's taverns and to wait in their rooms for about an hour until prayer time was over.

Alexei and Elizabeth/Sophia happened to have the two rooms that were furthest away from the dining room and also from the rest of their party. As the two of them passed Tangel and Lena's room they cut the corner in the corridor by stepping down into the small courtyard garden by the steps.

"I personally think you're a Mithros man," she told him as she began to walk backwards.

"Mithros?" he asked in surprise.

"Yep, I think he's the one you pray to when it has all gone to hell," she said smoothly stepping up onto the corridor once again and walking in the forward direction once again. It didn't escape Alexei's notice that she never looked once behind her as they walked along the path.

"I don't pray to any god."

"You must!" she stated incredulously.

"Nope, not religious in the least," he told her as they came to their front door to their apartment.

"How can you not be?" she asked amazed that he didn't pray. "You must at least believe that the gods exist." She stopped in her doorway to hear his reply.

"I do, I just don't think praying would do any good. If the Gods are going to involve themselves in my life, they will regardless of my prayer routine," he told her frankly.

"I can see your logic, I think, but…they are gods," she stated, obviously not understanding how he does not pray. He smiled slightly and shrugged.

"You are most definitely a Mother Goddess woman." She smiled broadly.

"Is it that easy to tell?" she asked leaning against the wall as he unlocked their door.

"Well," he said, holding the door open for her and following her into their shared living room. "You are a woman so that brings the possibility of the Goddess being your number one right to the top of the list. Do you want to sit outside?"

"Yeah," she said in response to his question as they went into her room and out onto the balcony. "You are basing that guess on my being female? It could be any of the other goddesses."

"Yeah, but it's not, is it?"

"Fine, I'll admit it. You were right, I pray to the Mother Goddess," she said reluctantly sitting down on the cushioned bamboo settee as Alexei lit the lamp on the table in front of them.

"That's so ordinary."

"Are you saying I'm not?" she demanded slightly hurt that he felt that way. However her face never betrayed her thoughts as he looked at her from the other side of the settee.

"In a good way, a very good way," he told her smiling kindly. Elizabeth blushed slightly and looked at her feet.

"Alex! Beth! You about?" Tangel called loudly before the noise of Alexei's bedroom door opening.

"Outside," he shouted to his countryman and friend. Some moments later Tangel appeared through the balcony door of Alexei's room.

"Cards anyone?" The tall beefy man asked.

"Sure," Elizabeth agreed. "I always have fun kicking your ass and emptying your pockets." Tangel sat down on one of the chairs and started dealing.

"I'm lullin' ya intae a false sense of security," he told her in his thick Dakken accent. From what she could gather from being around the Gallan agents most appeared to be Dakkens, a few sounded like they were from the cities. She was almost positive that Alex was one of the mountain people, he turned his accent on and off it seemed at will between Dakken and the one from the capital or any other accent that took his fancy.

The accent was not what made a Dakken obvious, in fact they were trained to be inconspicuous and unassuming, totally unremarkable. However, they were very observant, on average very intelligent and the most notable and remarkable thing about them, other than their incredible loyalty, was how lethal they were. They were a mountain people steeped in warrior tradition, trained to fight for their people from the time they could walk, resulting in that large region in eastern Galla being unconquerable for near a thousand years. Galla and the regions neighbours had all certainly made a fair effort in trying, the only reason Dakken became part of the country was that they chose to. It was a very popular love story in Galla about the Dakken chief's sister marrying the Crown Prince. When the couple became King and Queen the region chose to become a part of the country and the warriors were acquired by the army, officially becoming the Royal family's bodyguard almost 200 years ago.

"If that's what you call lulling someone into a false sense of security what are you like when you lose?" Alex asked.

"Shut up!" Tangel told him dealing as Alex cracked a grin.

A/N well that was a long chapter. I thought I had lost all of it, but I managed to recover it and had to write the beginning again and I added about 3 lines at the bottom.

Thank you to all the reviewers, i love getting them.


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